Column Stinkhorn

Description:

Pictured are several fruiting bodies in the same mulch bed, presumably belonging to the same organism. The first two images show orange, porous mushrooms with columnar arms joined at the top (one of the mushrooms pictured has a broken arm, but apparently they all joined originally). I observed small black flies gathered on one of the mushrooms, with brown slime visible on the inner surface of the arms. Accompanying these were small round white mushrooms. Several were cracked, showing translucent mucus inside. Within some of these gooey cracks I saw orange shapes resembling those previously described. Evidently, the white round ones are younger stages of the orange fruiting bodies. The final image shows what appears to be the ruins of one of these fruiting bodies destroyed. I detected no odor.

Habitat:

This fungus was found in a cultivated mulch bed after heavy rain.

Notes:

I only remember seeing this kind of fungus once before, earlier this winter. Definitely weird to me! I believe I have the correct classification, but I seek confirmation.